Tangerine Halls
by Magi Silverwolf
Summary: They met in a dancehall during his USO tour. They only had one memorable night. (RC fill; Steve Rogers/Angie Martinelli)


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.

 **Warnings:** This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Please utilize understanding of personal sensitivities before and while reading.

 **Author's Note(s):** More Romance Challenge fills! And because I got hit by the sudden realization that they had met at least once, here's the extremely brief 'affair' of Steve Rogers and Angie Martinelli! The plot for this particular fic was inspired the Capital Lights song "His Favorite Christmas Story" but loosely enough that it isn't recommended that it be listened to while reading the fic.

 **Challenge Information:**  
 **Day/Fic** : 06  
 **Representation(s)** : Rare Ship (Angie Martinelli/Steve Rogers); Love as a Brief Affair  
 **Word Count** : 949 (Story Only); 968 (Story & Epigraph)

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Tangerine Halls  
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"If you never did, you should. These things are fun and fun is good." – Dr. Seuss  
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Steve had been warned about her sort by the other USO girls. At least, he thought she was that sort of girl, the kind that hung around the USO hall to dance with a soldier before sending him off in the morning. She certainly hung around the hall and danced with the boys. She seemed to have no intention of sneaking off with any of the soldiers she danced with, though. Steve really thought that she might be in the hall just to have an excuse to dance.

He wasn't afraid to admit that he was enjoying watching her dance. Well, maybe he was, just a little. While preparing for Project Rebirth, he had been nursing a shine for Agent Peggy Carter, who seemed to like him right back. Of course, she shipped off with the SSR before he could work up his nerve to ask to take her dancing, and now he was helping out in a way that he hadn't anticipated when he had agreed to be Dr. Erskine's lab rat. He wasn't expecting to still be stateside, able to watch a pretty girl laugh through being twirled about a dancehall by nearly a full squadron of men.

Still, she was pretty in her tangerine dress. Her hair was swept up in some kind of bun that was much simpler than the elaborate curling and pinning that the show girls he traveled with did before coming to these things. She wasn't wearing any kind of cosmetic—even Peggy had always worn her bright red lipstick that he was worried about smearing if they ever got to the point of kissing—and he found that he liked that. It reminded him of his mother, eschewing fancy stuff for practicality. She didn't have to worry about the dancing ruining anything that way; she could focus more on simply enjoying herself.

Steve lost track of her for a brief time as he went to replenish his drink. He had only turned away for a moment—seltzer water didn't take long to fix compared to the liquor most other people were ordering—but there was no flash of orange that he could see when he looked back. It shouldn't bother him. He had skipped out on dancing pretty much every time Bucky had arranged for them to take girls dancing. Besides, Steve hadn't even escorted this one to the dance hall, so her disappearing _shouldn't bother him_.

But he had been warned about the girls who hung around the USO halls to entertain the soldiers, hadn't he? She was probably just here to dance, not do those things, but he had fought enough bullies to know that not all men accepted a polite refusal. He should just keep an eye on things, just in case. It was gentlemanly and something Bucky had done for his sisters countless times. He may be little more than a dancing monkey in a spangly suit currently, but he could still be useful. Dr. Erskine would have wanted him to be useful.

"Do they have normal water, do you think?" asked a voice from beside him. Looking down revealed the Tangerine Girl smiling up at him. "The bubbles make my nose twitchy. You probably hear this a lot, but you're really tall. You've also been staring all night like you either wanna toss me out on my ear or lick me like ice cream. Needed a drink myself when I saw you headed this way, so I figured I would just ask."

"I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, miss," Steve replied. Her smile grew brighter and she swatted at his shoulder playfully.

"You can make it up to me by dancing with me," she declared. He opened his mouth to protest. "And I'm really not taking 'no' for an answer. You need to enjoy yourself, if only for one night, and you clearly think I'm pretty, so we're going to dance like fools before parting like them for adventures unknown."

"I don't—"

"Don't what? Think I'm pretty? You were staring an awful lot for someone who thinks I'm ugly. You're gonna make me cry, sugar."

"You're not ugly. You're actually quite pretty. I just…"

"It's just dancing, Brooklyn. I'm not going to take you home to my mother." She tapped his nose with two fingers. "Might mess up my plans. I'm going to become an actress. Live the good life. Everyone is going to know the name 'Angie Martinelli'—well, anyone who knows anything about Broadway will."

"I don't know how to dance," Steve admitted. He didn't mention waiting for the right partner or wanting that partner to be a certain British agent. It didn't seem right to mention another woman while being dragged onto the dance floor by a completely different one.

Wait. What?

She laughed at his bewilderment as he realized that she had pulled him into a dance, easily slipping into the lead role. In the end, Steve was still uncertain if it counted as dancing, but they spent several hours laughing as they moved to the music being played by the band. He was finally starting to understand why Bucky had always enjoyed taking girls dancing so much.

"Just remember, sugar," she said as they were preparing to go their separate ways, "sometimes being dramatic is exactly what needs to be done. There's always some other choice to be made, Brooklyn." She tweaked his nose. "Don't be a stranger after you get your big shot. You'll know where to find me."

Much later, almost a full year in fact, he thought of tangerine as the world froze around him.

It wasn't just dancing with Peggy that he would miss.

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An Ending  
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End file.
